Scientists are developing a genetic modification for mosquitoes that will prevent the spread of malaria.

Specifically, the technique, which involves genes taken from bees and the African clawed frog, disrupts the normal development of the malaria parasite inside the mosquito. This means that a mosquito bite in regions where the disease is endemic would no longer be a potential death sentence.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that in 2023, nearly 600,000 deaths from malaria occurred, with three-quarters of the victims being children under five. Dr. Nikolai Windbichler, a geneticist at Imperial College London, stated that genetically modified mosquitoes could work where other malaria control efforts have failed.

“The advantage is that no one has to do anything,” he said. “This technology is purely genetic, so no one actually needs to take any action for it to be beneficial.”

Sky News was granted access to the Imperial College insectary, where thousands of mosquitoes are bred as part of the pioneering Transmission Zero program.

How Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Are Created

The first step in the process of creating a genetically modified mosquito is injecting the insect’s egg with genes from other species that produce proteins toxic to the malaria parasite. This slows down the parasite’s normal development inside the mosquito’s stomach. When the female mosquito bites someone to extract blood—which it needs to lay eggs—the parasite remains too immature to infect the person and cause disease.

In a second critical step, researchers use another genetic technique to ensure that all offspring of genetically modified mosquitoes carry the same malaria-fighting trait.

Dr. Windbichler explained that this technique means only a relatively small number of modified mosquitoes need to be released into the wild for the entire population to become effectively resistant to malaria.

“The trait spreads on its own. Over time, it becomes increasingly common in the population. It will also spread geographically so that, eventually, every mosquito transmitting malaria in Africa could carry it.”

Why Genetics Is More Effective and Cost-Efficient

The research is being conducted in collaboration with scientists in Tanzania and is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. While two malaria vaccines now exist, they are expensive and only moderately effective. Antimalarial drugs are also available, but the parasite has developed resistance to some of them.

On the other hand, the genetic technique is relatively inexpensive. After the initial laboratory work, the genetically modified mosquitoes essentially do all the work themselves.

Cypriot professor Giorgos Christophides, an expert in infectious diseases at Imperial College, stated that it may take years before genetically modified mosquitoes are released into the wild.

“We need to prove in the lab that it works and that it functions in exactly the way we want it to,” he said. “And then we need to demonstrate that it is safe and does not cause any unintended harm—to humans or the environment. It must be accepted by local communities and regulators before we can even consider field trials.”